Any recommendations for third party verified digital signatures?

I still sign, crimp and do a red pencil rub over the crimp

Then I make a color scan to pdf and send that out and keep the original in my file folder.

Many times a color scan will show the crimp much the same as a watermark shows up on the original.

I have always provided hard copies and sent all pdf's labeled preliminary, but a lot of folks are complaining that this takes to long to get the hard copies. I dont have a scanner at my office.

We use rightsignature.com . It's alright I suppose. Don't know the cost and signatures are black. Blue would be better, but we've had no complaints from the clients.

Adam, post: 330376, member: 8900 wrote: Is any one using a digital signature with third party verification? Are there any I could get going and be able to sign a pdf in a few minutes?

Adobe's Reader (free) on an Android phone or tablet can do signatures. It's located under the comment tools and the icon looks like a pen. The signature can be manipulated for size, line weight, color etc., but once the file is closed the signature becomes an un-editable part of the pdf. To the end user the signature will be no more editable than if they scanned it in from your paper copy.

Setting up third party verification would involve considerable more time and effort.

We use CoSign. I also add a statement indicating the document was signed electronically. It is incredibly easy to strip off the signature.

I questioned our board on Digital Signatures and they require that we use third party verification for electronic doc's, or print sign and scan.

Adam, post: 330376, member: 8900 wrote: Is any one using a digital signature with third party verification? Are there any I could get going and be able to sign a pdf in a few minutes?

You will need a reliable pdf creator as well as a third party Certificate Authority (CA). in the past some of the pdf creating/scanning/conversion software did not properly protect the files from alteration by others. The following is from a http://nexgenaccess.com/~dmorlan/Electronic%20Information%20Transfer.pdf&apos ;">2008 article I have mentioned here before.

[INDENT]A few of these Certificate Authorities are Verisign ( http://www.verisign.com/ ), Entrust ( http://www.entrust.com/ ),
IdenTrust ( http://www.identrust.com/ ) and GlobalSign ( http://www.globalsign.com/ ) with each providing multiple levels
of ID security. An example of the first step up is a Verisign ‰ÛÏClass 1Digital ID‰Û which currently costs $19.95 per year
and will work with email, PDF creators, word processing, spreadsheet and CAD applications. However, the certificate
includes a statement ‰ÛÏPersona Not Validated‰Û indicating a lack of identity verification. The CA has verified only a
working email address and a credit card valid for online purchases. A higher level of identity verification from Verisign
is an ‰ÛÏExternal Certification Authority (ECA)‰Û certificate. This certificate, which currently costs $125 per year, has
similar capabilities to the Class 1 Digital ID but requires ‰ÛÏRobust In-Person Identity and Citizenship Verification.‰Û[/INDENT]

Verisign is now Symantec and likely the best known of the Certificate Authorities the current personal ID link is http://www.symantec.com/digital-id/ . I used this CA for a number of years on both personal email and teaching securing CAD (MicroStation) files in the classroom. All student submissions were graded using a reference file secured with the digital ID. The students were also shown how to verify the grading file was not altered and also validate the ID online with Verisign/Symantic. Their current cost is $25 per year and I am sure the others are similar.

Thanks for the sites.

If you're looking for a solid third-party option, DocuSign or Adobe Sign are usually the gold standard for most firms, but they can get pretty pricey if you don't need all the extra bells and whistles. A lot of it just comes down to whether your local jurisdiction or specific clients have a preferred vendor for the verification part.
If you just need a clean, professional-looking graphic of your signature to drop into those platforms or onto your digital documents, I’ve used this digital signature maker before. It’s super handy for getting a high-quality signature file without much hassle.
Definitely check with your state board or a local RPLS forum member to see if they have a specific preference for the encrypted side of things, though!

@ryn_lance This site just produces the simplest of electronic signatures and not a third party verifiable encrypted digital signature as required by most state (at least those that allow the use of anything other than a wet signature).

DocuSign works well for me. I'm not sure about the pricing, but I've heard that they charge by the signature which is an easy cost to pass to the client.

Posted by: @john-putnam

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This site just produces the simplest of electronic signatures and not a third party verifiable encrypted digital signature .....

Put in laymans terms, if a document that has been digitally signed is altered - other than adding more digital signatures - the digital signature disappears upon being saved. Not so with an electronic signature.

My city uses Bluebeam for a pdf editor. Bluebeam has a digital signature application built in. IMO, having pdf editor software is basic kit. The digital signature function is the whipped cream on that sundae. 

You will want to check your state code, most free signing software such as BluBeam, Adobe, Docusign do not comply with State requirements about verifiable signatures.  We use IdenTrust, works well and checks all the professional requirements.  

Posted by: @wa-id-surveyor

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You will want to check your state code, most free signing software such as BluBeam, Adobe, Docusign do not comply with State requirements about verifiable signatures.

Neither Bluebeam nor Adobe are free.  Our city attorney uses the same Bluebeam as I do to sign documents, so on the advise of counsel I intend to continue as I've begun.

Posted by: @norman-oklahoma

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Neither Bluebeam nor Adobe are free.  Our city attorney uses the same Bluebeam as I do to sign documents, so on the advise of counsel I intend to continue as I've begun.

Good point.  I didn't add the details, i was referring to the free 'signature' part of the programs which i use daily to sign contracts and all sort of things.  Everything except a stamped PLS signature, those programs alone do not meet the requirements in my states.  

I hesitated to use digital signatures until I began keeping track of the time I spent printing and signing documents plus the cost of reprints. Even at $5.00 per digital signature, you're likely to save a great deal of time and money going digital with the added benefit of having your plats at a much higher resolution assuming you print to PDF from CAD. 

Posted by: @norman-oklahoma

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Neither Bluebeam nor Adobe are free.  Our city attorney uses the same Bluebeam as I do to sign documents, so on the advise of counsel I intend to continue as I've begun.

Yes, Bluebeam and Adobe, as well as AutoCAD and many other software, have tools to implement a digital signature certificate of authority.  Unfortunately, they do not care how the digital signature's certificate was created.  As a matter of fact, they will let you create your own which does not meet the requirements of third party verifiable.  The point is, you need to pay a third party to verify that you are in fact who you say, think digital notary.

I'm would hope that the City has provided you with the proper certificate.  If you need to in plug in a dongle (or type in a crazy password) for a certificate that you did not generate, then yours is most likely third party verifiable.  You can actually determine the CA in Bluebeam if you view the digital signature.